Tuesday, January 6, 2009

First I would like to say that I am sorry I wasn't able to post yesterday! When we got home and he was resting, I was going to post, but our internet didn't work. Then we found out that our home phone didn't work. It was just repaired, so here I am. Apparently a neighbor had their phone line worked on, and when the worker shut the box, it cut our phone line.

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The surgery yesterday started at about 7:40a, and we were called back to talk to the doctor at about 10:15a. He said that all went well and we would be able to see Wes pretty soon after. We were taken to see him right after the doctor consultation, and boy was he mad!! The nurse was trying to hold him and he kept arching his back and straightening his arms and legs. When he does that, he is nearly impossible to hold. She handed him to me and I spent the next three hours trying to keep him on my lap. He wanted down, he wanted the tubes disconnected, he wanted the hospital clothes off. The reason we were in recovery so long is because Wesley's oxygen level wouldn't stay up on its own, so he was on oxygen. As soon as we gave him some Pedialyte, he was at his before-surgery level, so we could go home. He was probably dehydrated.

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Wes slept most of the day yesterday and he slept all night last night. We had to feed him and give him pain medicine, but he hardly even stirred for that. He did get mad and scream when we had to put Vaseline on the incisions. I underestimated how tough that would be!! I am not one who likes touching stitches and wounds, and then to have to touch your son's as he SCREAMS in pain!! Yikes!! I can't tell him that it hurts me as much as it hurts him because I am sure it doesn't, but it does hurt me a little.

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We have a better idea what to expect after the next surgery (the BIG one), but the esophagus surgery is so much more difficult. Once Wes is recovered from this surgery, the second surgery will be scheduled. This will be at least three months, probably longer with scheduling difficulties.

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Thank you so much for your prayers and support!!! Here's a picture of Wes on the car ride home. He would not let me take the water bottle away, even when he fell asleep!!

Thanks Staci for the update on Wes. I have a question, on FRUA there was some talk about ones medical insurance not covering this procedure for adopted children, did you run into this if so what did you do? We will ofcourse be getting our little guy the same surgery (when we get him) and am worried our insurance won't cover this procedure. You can leave me a message on my sight.

Just wanted you to know that many babies born with EA are not operated on until they are a few months old. Babies with esophagus-trachea connections do get operated on right away, because they can't survive like that. But kids with only a gap in the esophagus can wait a while. Nowadays, the preferred method is to pull the two ends of the esophagus together but sometimes (all the time not that long ago) doctors would use part of the colon to repair the esophagus. What is the plan for Wes?

I believe that the surgeon plans on "pulling up" Wesley's stomach to meet the end of his esophagus. At this point, we aren't sure how much esophagus he has from the top down, but he has none from the stomach up. Wes will be having a scope done to determine the best strategy before surgery though. Staci